


Only a Thought Away

by LilBittyMonster



Series: Mollymauk Lives Fest [8]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, I needed Molly at the beach with them so this is me kinda coping, M/M, Mollymauk Lives Fest, Soulbonds, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 20:39:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15937859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilBittyMonster/pseuds/LilBittyMonster
Summary: Beach day featuring Mollymauk





	Only a Thought Away

**Author's Note:**

> Day 8: Soulmate AU

Caleb floated on his back, watching the clouds above him and trailing his fingers through the water. From behind him he heard the sounds of someone swimming up to him, and from across their soulbond he could tell exactly who it was.

“Oh, no, are you a big scary sea monster come to eat me?”

“Depends on your definition of ‘eat’,” Mollymauk purred, coming to stand on a bit of sandbar below.

Caleb just smiled and leaned back down into the water, watching a flock of white and grey birds -seagulls, Fjord had named them- fly overhead towards the beach.

Suddenly, the man himself appeared out of thin air right next to hm, startling Caleb and sending him underwater with a shouted curse. He resurfaced to see Fjord blinking mildly at him.

“Howdy, you two,” he said. “You alright, there, Caleb?”

“ _Ja_ ,” he coughed, “ _ja_ , I’m fine.” He felt Molly’s arm wrap around his waist under the water.

“I’m surprised, you two seem mighty brave for people who’ve never seen the ocean before,” Fjord commented.

“Ah, it’s just a bit of water. We’ve faced much worse, haven’t we?” Mollymauk said casually.

Caleb nodded, still coughing.

“You sure you’re alright, dear?” Mollymauk asked him quietly.

“Yep. Great,” he spluttered. His soulmate just gave him a few pats on the back.

“This is….this is just wonderful,” Caduceus said, flicking the water from his ears as he stood up next to them. Caleb felt the jolt of fascination Molly always got around the firbolg, and he nudged him gently with a secret smile. Mollymauk just wrapped his tail around Caleb’s calf.

“So many sea monsters in the water today,” Caleb remarked drily, rising a chuckle from the three surrounding him.

“Well, shall we rejoin the others?” Fjord suggested with a tilt of his head.

“Sure, we’ve other things to see in the city, yes?” Caleb and Molly asked in sync.

“It’s always weird when you two do that,” Fjord remarked before blinking back to shore.

Caduceus just shrugged. “I find it quite charming, actually. Your voices sound good together.”

“Uh, tha-thank you,” Caleb said hesitantly. Mollymauk just pressed a kiss to his temple.

The three swam back (well, Caduceus just walked) to the shoreline where the other four were congregated. Nott was busy collecting the bodies of several birds on the beach. Caleb just shook his head fondly as he walked the last bit of distance. As he emerged fully from the water, Caleb felt a jolt of want run up his spine, and he turned to see a pair of red eyes roving over his body before meeting his with a smirk.

“See something you like?” Caleb called back flirtatiously.

Molly’s face seemed….stuck, for a lack of a better term, blinking back dumbfounded at Caleb.

Caleb just turned and kept walking, hoping his soulmate would feel the mess of his pride at making a decent joke and how much he loved the man.

“You guys, my mom’s singing tonight! We have to go!” Jester was saying as she hurriedly packed their belongings back into the cart.

They redressed and all piled in, Mollymauk stretching his arm out behind Caleb’s head and pulling him onto his shoulder.

“You can be in your head for a bit, I’ll let you know when we’re there,” he murmured.

Caleb pressed a grateful kiss to his jaw and settled in, lulled by the rocking of the cart on the gravel.

\---

 

“Caleb, could I have a word?” Caduceus rumbled as they walked back from the lighthouse.

“Sure, sure. What about?”

“Well, I haven’t had a chance to ask you in private, but I have some questions about the nature of your and Mollymauk’s bond. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, of course, but I am fascinated by it. I admit, I don’t know a whole lot about soulmates and soulbonds and I’m hoping you can shed some light on the subject.”

“I will admit, I do not know a whole lot either, I can only tell you what my experience has been, but I can try to answer your questions. Ask away.”

Caduceus smiled. “Thank you, Caleb. So, uh, how did you know it was one another?”

He smiled ruefully. “I tried to deny it for a while, I think. There was some sort of pull? I guess? Towards this flashy, loud, purple circus tiefling. I dismissed it for a few weeks. Then, I had a-a painful flashback, and he was there immediately. Snapped me out of it, kissed me on the forehead.” His expression softened as he touched his forehead in remembrance.

“Then, a few weeks later, in the Gentleman’s bar, he was named by a tabaxi, someone from his-from his other past, and I could feel his terror and panic as clearly as if it were my own. I confronted him the next day and told him about it, and he admitted that he had felt the same sort of thing back in Alfield. And here we are,” he finished.

“Huh,” Caduceus said thoughtfully. “Can you hear each other’s thoughts?”

“No, just the emotions thing. And over time, I have also been able to tell how far he is from me.”

“That must be tricky in combat,” the firbolg mused.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” Caleb sighed, remembering the hill giant.

“Can you tell where he is now?”

Caleb felt along the familiar connection, feeling it tug in a new direction every now and then. “He’s wandering around, he and Jester must still be in the market,” he said, coming back to himself.

Caduceus flicked and ear, appraising him with interest. “So,” he said after a beat, “you told me that he takes care of you when you have these flashbacks. What do you do for him?”

“I...try to reign in his impulsiveness,” Caleb began slowly. “Introduce logic where he would be headstrong and rash. Some world wisdom where he has none, so to speak.”

Caduceus nodded in satisfaction. “You balance one another, as all things in nature should,” he said. After a pause, he continued, “There’s almost a glow about you two when you’re together.”

“Are you saying I am dull?” Caleb asked, lightly joking.

“No, no, you’re quite the opposite of dull, I think. I meant that there’s just a sense of rightness, if that makes sense.”

Caleb allowed himself to smile. “It certainly feels that way.”

\---

 

“So. Molly,” Jester started as they walked along the cobblestone road, arm in arm. “I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Yes, dear?”

“How’s your whole soulmate thing going with Caleb? Can you read each other’s minds yet? Do you always know where he is? Do you feel everything that he does?” jester babbled excitedly. “Tell me everything!”

“How do you know so much about soulmates, jester? You grew up in a pleasure house, can’t imagine you’d see a whole lot of soulmates there,” Mollymauk deflected.

“Well I read a lot of stories about people meeting their soulmates and living happily ever after, and my mom would always tell me about my dad, you know?” Her expression grew soft. “She always said she could tell exactly how he felt, and that’s how she knew he really loved her, not just liked her for the mwa-mwa-mwa,” she said under her breath. “So,” she brightened back up, and nudged Molly with her elbow. “What’s it like?”

He chuckled. “Well, we’re at the feeling the other’s emotions part, although it’s not everything. Just the really intense ones unless we go looking, or are right on top of each other.” He immediately regretted his choice of words as jester’s expression durned devious.

“Right on top of each other?” she asked with a dramatic waggle of eyebrows.

Molly rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean,” he said.

“Sure, sure,” she agreed. “So how’s the sex?”

“I don’t kiss and tell, darling,” he said with a wink.

“Ugh, fine, be that way,” she pouted, but Mollymauk could see the smile curling at her lips. “You are happy, though, right?” she asked, pushing the door to the bakery open.

“I am beyond happy, Jester. I have a soulmate. Which means that I have a soul! Of my own! Not-not... _his_ ,” he snarled, “but my own. And it’s this ridiculously handsome wizard who has amazing powers and is funny when he lets himself be and kind even when he doesn’t want to admit it and…….” he trailed off as jester wiped at a tear. “I want him to be happy, too,” he finished quietly.

“You really love him don’t you?” Jester asked him gently.

Molly bit his lip and nodded.

“Well, I’m sure you guys will figure it out,” she said, patting his arm sympathetically.

“He doesn’t think he deserves it,” Mollymauk told her bitterly.

“We’re all working on it, trust me,” she said, leaning in. “I’m going to get us some pastries, I’ll be right back.” And with that she flounced over to the counter.

Mollymauk sagged against the wall, taking comfort in how near he could feel Caleb was, hoping he didn’t get the rush of emotion he just went through. Doubtful, but he could hope.

The man himself walked through the door not a minute later, making a beeline for Molly. His brow was creased in mild concern, dashing Mollymauk’s hopes.

“Are you alright, _Liebe_?” he asked as he embraced him.

“Yes, darling, I’m fine,” Molly reassured him, leaning forward to touch his forehead to Caleb’s.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.”

\---

As they pair walked through the doorway back out onto the street, the setting sun struck a glowing halo around them.

“It looks like they’re glowing!” Jester remarked to Caduceus. The firbolg just grinned.

“It does, that it does.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was constantly imagining Molly in Nicodranas with them so here's my fix-it
> 
> I'm on [tumblr](https://lilbittymonster.tumblr.com/) if you want to say hi :)


End file.
